NEW YORK — Giannis Antetokounmpo was so eager to make a rim-rocking Christmas debut that he overshot the basket on his first attempt, a dunk from one side that ended with the ball all the way in the opposite corner.

“I was so excited that I went a little bit too high and I thought the rim was a foot taller,” Antetokounmpo said.

He and the Milwaukee Bucks eventually settled down and showed they belonged on the holiday stage.

Antetokounmpo had 30 points and 14 rebounds, and Milwaukee celebrated its return to the Christmas schedule by beating the New York Knicks 109-95 on Tuesday.

“This is one of the highest stages,” Antetokounmpo said. “Special teams play Christmas Day, and just it’s an opportunity for us and we’re really happy.”

Brook Lopez scored 20 points for the Bucks, who played on Christmas for the first time since 1977. They were selected for the showcase slate of games largely because of Antetokounmpo, but the timing also was perfect to show an emerging team, which improved the NBA’s second-best record to 23-10.

Malcolm Brogdon finished with 17 points for the Bucks, the NBA scoring leaders who bounced back from a season-low 87 points in a loss to Miami on Saturday to win for the fifth time in six games.

“People come to see Giannis play, but they’ve got to watch all of us, so it’s definitely a great opportunity for the rest of us to showcase as a team what we can do,” Brogdon said.

Rookie Kevin Knox scored 21 points for the Knicks, who have lost six straight Christmas Day games and fell to 22-31 in their NBA-record 53 appearances on the holiday.

“It’s on me to stay even in this whole thing, not be up and down emotionally because I (have) to keep their spirits up,” Knicks Coach David Fizdale said. “They feel it. They’re human.”

New York has lost five in a row and 10 of 11 since rallying to stun the Bucks 136-134 in overtime on Dec. 1 at Madison Square Garden.

Antetokounmpo was angry that night with Knicks forward Mario Hezonja, who dunked over him in the first quarter, then stared and stepped over him.

Antetokounmpo felt it was disrespectful, vowing to punch Hezonja in the groin next time.

The Greek Freak was perhaps a little too pumped for the rematch – Brogdon grabbed the rebound of his errant dunk in the corner and fired in a 3-pointer – but he quickly got untracked.

It was only a seven-point game midway through the third quarter when Antetokounmpo began to seize control. He followed a jumper with a layup that pushed the lead to double digits, and he scored 11 points in the Bucks’ 36-point quarter that ended with them leading 84-68.

“We played them really (well) in the first half – down two – in the locker room felt pretty good,” Knox said. “But that third quarter, defensively, offensively, just something slips with us.”

Noah Vonleh had 14 points and 15 rebounds for the Knicks. Tim Hardaway Jr. finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds but shot just 4 for 18.

ROCKETS 113, THUNDER 109: James Harden scored 41 points and Houston beat visiting Oklahoma City for its seventh win in the last eight games.

Harden has scored 30 points or more in a career-high seven games in a row, marking the first time a player has done that since Russell Westbrook had eight consecutive 30-point games in November 2016. He has at least 35 points in his last five, which is the longest such streak since Carmelo Anthony did it in six games in April 2013.

A 3-pointer by Paul George with less than two minutes left got Oklahoma City within four before Harden missed a 3-pointer. Westbrook missed a shot for the Thunder, but George stole the ball from Harden and was fouled by him.

George made both free throws to make it a two-point game with 43.6 seconds left. Harden then drove past George and into the lane for a layup. After Westbrook made 1 of 2 free throws to cut the margin to 3 with 15 seconds remaining, Austin Rivers sank a free throw with 7.4 seconds left to secure the win.

George had 28 points and 14 rebounds. Westbrook added 21 points with nine rebounds and nine assists.

Harden became the first player to score 40 or more points on Christmas since Kevin Durant had 44 for the Thunder in 2010. Harden’s latest big game came as the Rockets played without Chris Paul, who missed his second straight game because of a strained left hamstring. The nine-time All-Star is out for at least the next two weeks.

Clint Capela had 16 points and tied a season high with 23 rebounds for the Rockets.